


in little ways, when everything stays

by damedanbo



Category: Fruits Basket, Fruits Basket (Anime 2001), Fruits Basket (Anime 2019), Fruits Basket - Takaya Natsuki (Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Curses, Gen, Memory Alteration, Memory Loss, Mid-Canon, Starting Over
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-25
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2020-01-31 12:14:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18591064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/damedanbo/pseuds/damedanbo
Summary: Tohru Honda used to know the Sohma family secret.Now she has no memory of them, of the curse or the people she became so close with. Not everyone can live with that, least of all Yuki and Kyo Sohma. They miss her, and they have every intention of becoming her friend again... just as long as she doesn't find out about the curse this time.





	1. right where you left it

_If my memories are erased… Please become friends with me again._

 

“We shouldn’t approach her,” Shigure warned, pointedly not looking in her direction as they waited at the crosswalk. Yuki peeked past him, tipping his umbrella forward so that the raindrops collecting on top spilled off onto Kyo’s head.

“Hey! You damn rat, knock it off!”

“Quiet,” Yuki warned. His eyes were still locked on the girl across the street, waiting for the walk signal.

“If she doesn’t remember us, it’s fine, isn’t it?” Kyo snapped. He'd been particularly dour since it had happened, more prone to outbursts and acts of violence.

The light changed, and the walk signal lit up. Yuki and Shigure started forward, shoving Kyo along with them. The girl on the other side of the street started towards them, not quite looking at them. More like through them.

The four of them walked right past each other. Her eyes were glazed over as if she were elsewhere, thinking about something important. Kyo kept his eyes on the ground as they passed her, and Shigure studied the twilight sky as they walked.

“Honda-san.”

The other three froze. Kyo’s hackles raised, and Shigure shot Yuki a warning look.

“A-ah! Sohma-san, I didn’t see you there!” Tohru said, shaking the glassiness from her eyes and giving him a 100 watt smile.

“Are you on your way to work?” Yuki asked, casually, as if he had reason to know that Tohru had a job.

“Yes! I was just heading there.. Are these your brothers?”

“Cousins,” Yuki said. Shigure was yanking on his arm, trying to lead him away without looking at Tohru. “Sorry, they’re a little rude.”

“It’s nice to meet you both,” Tohru said, bowing to Kyo and Shigure. Shigure nodded stiffly to her. Kyo clicked his tongue, and took off running through the rain, away from the scene.

“I guess he couldn’t handle it,” Shigure sighed. “I’ll go on ahead. Yuki… don’t do anything ill mannered, now.”

“I’m not you,” Yuki said, as Shigure headed on ahead, spinning his umbrella. It was just the two of them now, still standing in the middle of the street when the “don’t walk” signal began to flash.

“A-ah! I have to get to work!” Tohru remembered, and they parted like that. “It was nice to see you, Sohma-san!”

“And you,” Yuki said. Softly, to himself, “...Tohru.”

 

“What were you thinking back there? She could have recognized us!” Kyo yowled, rubbing a towel in his hair to try to dry up.

“It was pretty rash, Yuki,” Shigure sighed. “We shouldn’t have even gone near her, let alone spoke to her.”

“So both of you are happy like this? Living without her, pretending not to know her?” Yuki stood, pushing past Shigure and then shoving Kyo forcefully out of his way. “We were all happier with her around. Akito shouldn’t have--”

“Well it wasn’t our decision to make,” Shigure snapped.

“I’m not going to avoid her, pretend like I don’t know her. I didn’t lose my memories,” Yuki said firmly. “If you two are happier without Tohru around, fine. But I’m going to become her friend again.”

Kyo glared at him. “If you’re so jealous, why don’t you try talking to her too?” Yuki asked.

“I’m not jealous!”

“You miss her just as much as I do, stupid cat.”

“Screw you! Don’t pretend like you know how I feel.”

“But you make it so obvious.” Kyo scowled at him, and stalked out of the room. They could hear him stomping up the stairs, then slamming his bedroom door.

“This really is bad, Yuki,” Shigure sighed. “Tohru-kun wasn’t supposed to come back into our lives after that.”

“She’s just not allowed to know our secret, right? What’s stopping us from being her friends without telling her about the curse?”

“I don’t know how to answer that,” Shigure said, as Yuki turned and left him.

 

“Mom, I’m home,” Tohru said sleepily, flipping on the bedroom light. She was so tired from work, but she still had worksheets to do for school. She fell onto her bed, hugging her pillow.

_Why did this feel so familiar?_

Tohru lifted her head, trying to place the sense of deja vu she was feeling. Well, she had been in this very situation many times before: returning home from a long night’s work, doing her homework, and crawling into bed like this. But there was something else, too.

“I can’t figure it out,” Tohru sighed. “I’m too tired.” She rolled over onto her back, staring up at the ceiling. She ought to get her homework done before she fell asleep…

_At least I’m not sleeping in a tent,_ Tohru thought, eyes fluttering closed. She snapped them back open.

“What is that supposed to mean?” she wondered out loud. Living in a tent? Had that ever happened, to anyone she knew? Definitely not.

Maybe it was something mom had told her a long time ago… Maybe she had lived in a tent when she fell in with the rough crowd. Tohru was too tired to think on it much. She rolled out of bed, crawling over to her school bag to pull out her worksheets and begin working on them.

As she worked on her English homework, her mind wandered. The day had been so long, it felt like she’d been awake for a week. She’d had to get up early before school to cook herself a lunch, then went to school, and then she’d had work, too. It honestly felt like she had no time to herself anymore, and on top of that…

_“Tohru! I thought I told you to clean the kitchen? Jeez, that lazy girl...”_

Her relatives were kind of demanding.

But there had been good things today, too! She’d played with Hana-chan and Uo-chan at lunch, a game of Rich Man Poor Man. And she’d even seen Sohma-san and his relatives outside of school! It had felt so surreal, seeing the prince out in the real world. Besides that, somehow she’d just assumed Sohma had no relatives. But she had seen them herself, Shigure-san and Kyo-kun--

“Who is that?” Tohru asked herself, lifting her pencil off the worksheet. She didn’t take much time to consider it; she’d accidentally written her thoughts all over the worksheet, so she set about frantically erasing it all.

Kyo-kun… and Shigure-san. She had such a strong feeling that she’d known those people, but she’d never met anyone with those names before. Sohma-san’s relatives, huh… But she was sure they hadn’t introduced themselves at all.

Maybe Sohma had mentioned their names before. Maybe they had been wearing nametags…

“I’m too tired for this,” Tohru groaned, laying down on the floor on top of her workbook. She drifted off like that, snoozing on the floor with her cheek on the paper.

_Kyo-kun… Yuki-kun…_

 

“You don’t have to come to school with me,” Yuki called over his shoulder. “Just go home.”

“Shut up! I have every right to go to school,” Kyo snapped back.

Yuki sighed. Kyo had been testy since the day before, and now he was becoming downright obnoxious. Yuki couldn’t admit that he was himself pretty on-edge, after what had happened the night before.

“I’m not going to introduce you to her, just so you know,” Yuki called again.

“Why you!” Kyo threw himself at Yuki’s back, and Yuki spun around to kick him. Kyo landed on the steps, spread-eagled and staring up at the morning sky.

“What exactly are you scheming, anyway,” Kyo called after him as Yuki continued down the stairs. “You can’t be satisfied just watching her from a distance.”

“Neither can you. Does that mean that you’re planning something?”

Kyo hissed at him, jumping to his feet and running on ahead. Yuki sighed.

A lot of people had lost their memories as a result of their curse. Tohru wasn’t the only one; her friends, and many of their classmates who had memory of Kyo, of Momiji or Haru, or of Tohru’s relationship with any of them, had also had their slates wiped clean. It was awfully lonely, Yuki thought, returning to school after that. Nobody else knew that anything had changed, but he did. He knew she was missing from their lives, even if no one else realized it.

The rest of the twelve were similarly mourning Tohru’s disappearance from their lives. Kisa had stopped going to school again. Momiji refused to speak to anyone, anymore. It was funny, how much all of them had needed her.

Well, not really “funny,” but…

“Prince Yuki!” a girl called out to him as he neared the school. “Is it true that your cousin is transferring here? What’s he like?”

Yuki sighed, and forced a fake smile. “My cousin? I’m afraid I don’t know him that well.”

“The prince spoke to me,” the girl whispered to her friend as he passed them by. So Kyo was pulling out all the stops. How very unlike him, to go out of his way to be close to people. Well, Yuki supposed, Kyo always had been closer to their classmates, hadn’t he?

“Hey, Yucky Yuki!” Kyo called. He stood just inside the school gate, grinning determination at Yuki. “Why don’t you introduce me to your--hey!”

Yuki breezed right past him. Kyo stumbled after him, grabbing onto his arm.

“Hey, don’t ignore me.”

“Stop acting like a fool, stupid cat.”

“Say that a little louder, why don’t you?” Kyo spat. Yuki glanced over his shoulder. There was a herd of girls following them, at a respectful but obvious distance. This was going to cause problems later. Yuki foresaw his rate of confessions from girls tripling by the end of the week.

“Wow, Prince Yuki’s cousin!” A girl cried, falling into step beside Kyo. “You’re almost as handsome as the prince!”

“I wonder if it’s too soon to set up the Prince Yuki’s Cousin’s fanclub?” another girl giggled, trying to grab onto his arm. Kyo shook her off, grimacing.

“Sohma-san, introduce us!”

“Sohma-san, I love you!”

“Sohma-san--”

“SHUT UP!” Kyo cried, spinning around. He froze. Tohru blinked at him, and slowly backed away.

“Um… I’m sorry if I startled you… I was just going to ask Sohma-san something. Sorry…” She shrunk away more by the second, and was overtaken by the Yuki Sohma fanclub, who surged forward.

“Prince Yuki’s Cousin!” Minagawa Motoko cried, pushing her way to the front of the crowd. “It is my honor to invite you to our school. We are truly blessed to have another beautiful Sohma here!”

“Can it!” Kyo yelled, standing on his tiptoes to look over the crowd at Tohru’s retreating back. He scowled. He wouldn’t be able to push through the crowd without transforming, and that really wasn’t an option. Kyo turned the other way and ran, disappearing around the corner. He could catch her in the classroom.

“Wow,” Yuki said dryly, watching him go.

 

The classroom door slammed open, and the three girls looked over, curious but not alarmed. Hana perked right up, intrigued by the waves coming off of the visitor, a red haired guy with tanned skin.

“You know him?” Uo asked Hana, as the boy located them and made a beeline for their little group.

“I don’t think so,” Hana said. Strange, because Hanajima was always so sure of things. “Maybe we met in a past life.”

The boy stopped in front of Tohru’s desk, where she sat between her two friends, and slammed a palm down atop the surface. “Kyo Sohma,” he announced, as if he were expecting a raucous applause at the declaration.

“Any relation to Yuki Sohma?” Uo asked, and the newcomer made a face of disgust at her.

“None that you need to know of, yanki.”

“Strange waves indeed,” Hana said softly, and the boy recoiled.

“A-anyway, I’m Kyo Sohma. And you are?”

“Uotani, and this is--”

“Didn’t ask.”

“You really did,” Uo said, face twitching in anger.

“I asked _her,_ ” Kyo said pointedly, jerking his head in Tohru’s direction. Tohru sat bolt upright.

“Yes! I’m Tohru Honda! It’s… nice to meet you, Kyo-san.”

“Kyo- _kun_ ,” the redhead said pointedly.

“R-right…”

“He certainly is forward,” Uo muttered. Hana’s eyes narrowed.

“Are you just here for a visit?” Tohru asked politely.

“I’m transferring here,” Kyo declared. “I intend to be in this class.”

“No you’re not,” Yuki said, brushing past him. Kyo spun around to face him, hair standing on end. The mob of girls had followed Yuki and they lingered near the doorway, peeking into the classroom. Yuki beckoned for his cousin to follow him. Kyo stalked after him, scowling.

“Whatever you think you’re doing, stop it,” Yuki warned.

“So you can be friends with her again, but I can’t?”

“Putting on an act and forcing your way back into her life isn’t going to help anyone. If you want to be her friend again, stop acting weird. You’re drawing too much attention anyway.”

Yuki returned to his desk and sat down, and Kyo was left glaring at him and unable to return to the conversation with Tohru, who had Hana and Uo protecting her again. Kyo grumbled to himself, heading to the back of the classroom to take a seat in an empty desk.

 

Hatori considered himself a man difficult to shock. That’s why he couldn’t tell which was more surprising: what Shigure had told him, or that he’d spat out his tea at the announcement.

“They what?!” Ayame cried, managing not to make a mess of _his_ tea. “Shigure, surely you’re kidding!”

“I wish I was,” Shigure sighed. The trio sat gathered around the table in Ayame’s shop, sipping from elegant teacups. Shigure hadn’t touched his tea. Hatori dabbed his off of his shirt.

“I warned them,” Shigure said. “I told them to leave it alone.”

“Well, you can hardly blame them!” Ayame said. “Tohru was such a little ray of sunshine; it’s no surprise that they want her back in their lives!”

“There’s no way that just being around them could trigger her repressed memories, right?” Shigure asked. Hatori shook his head solemnly.

“Her memory was cleanly removed. She won’t recall any of her old memories of the Sohmas. But if one of them were to bump into her and reveal the curse again, we’d have to start over with removing her memories again.”

“So the takeaway from that is…” Ayame glanced at Shigure.

“Those two have to be… careful,” Shigure finished.

“It’s impossible!” they cried together.

“If they want to be around her, they’ll have to be,” Hatori said. “They’ve kept the secret for years before meeting Tohru. It shouldn’t be a problem now.”

“But it’s Tohru,” Ayame sighed. “We all know they’re going to get too comfortable around her again and let it slip.”

“It would be abnormal if they didn’t,” Shigure agreed. “Tohru is… Tohru.”

“Then we’ll just have to wait and see,” Hatori said. “But if it happens again, and I have to wipe her memory clean a second time, Akito won’t be happy.”

Shigure sobered up at that, setting his teacup down on its saucer. “No, he won’t be. That’s why the three of us need to keep an eye on them.”

“Let’s do our best then, boys!” Ayame cheered, raising his teacup in a toast. Shigure clinked their cups gleefully together, and they both drank.

 

Despite his initially forward behavior, Kyo Sohma, as it turned out, was painfully shy.

Tohru had encountered him over and over again throughout the day. He continued to pop up during breaks, at lunch, in the library--and everywhere Kyo Sohma went, Yuki Sohma appeared as well.

All the attention was kind of making her nervous.

Kyo-san--Kyo-kun, rather, because he’d asked her three times now to call him that (in fact, the last time, he’d snapped it at her!)--was shy, but pushy in the same vein. Kind of Tsundere. He had less than zero interest in the other girls at school, to the point of shoving one of them away when she tried to cling to him, but he’d followed Tohru like a lost puppy all afternoon.

No… more like a lost kitten, pretending to have no interest in you while following on your heels. It was endearing, but also kind of awkward. She’d never even spoken to him before this!

Sohma-san had tried to explain to her that his estranged cousin had been raised by wild tigers and was poorly socialized, but she wasn’t sure what to think of that either.

She had just slipped her shoes on and was heading out to go to work when Kyo Sohma caught up with her again. Yuki Sohma was close behind, and grabbed onto Kyo’s shirt to hold him back from Tohru, politely explaining that they had somewhere to be and couldn’t chat, and don’t you have work anyway, Honda-san?

“O-of course!” Tohru said, bowing to both of them. “Then, I’m off! Tell Shigure-san I said hello!”

The three of them froze.

“Who?” Tohru asked, blinking skywards. Shigure-san… She had thought that name up last night, too, along with Kyo’s name.. Shigure was the third Sohma she’d seen the day before then, wasn’t he?

The boys stared at her in abject horror, then hightailed it away.

 

“My, you two look tired,” Shigure said, slipping his shoes off at the door and stepping into his house. “Did you run all the way home or what?”

Kyo glared at him, panting slightly. Yuki lifted his head, face shiny with a layer of sweat.

“Seriously, what’s up? You guys look like you saw a ghost,” Shigure laughed, heading past them into the kitchen. The boys shivered.


	2. daily and nightly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The rules are laid out, and Tohru meets a strange rabbit.

“So,” Yuki said.

“So.” Kyo echoed him.

“Some ground rules.”

“Yup.”

Kyo sat on the floor in Yuki’s room, one leg stretched out and the other bent at the knee. Yuki paced, hands fluttering nervously.

“Number one.”

Kyo sat up attentively.

“We cannot tell anyone that Tohru remembers.”

“Well no shit, you idiot!” Kyo hollered.

“Keep it down. I’m just making sure you know.” Yuki finally sat, across from Kyo, hands worrying at the hem of his silk shirt.

“Two. We do not mention any other Sohmas.”

“That’s easy.”

“Three. We do not  _ harass  _ Tohru.”

“Why would we?”

“You were doing it today.”

“Wha--” Kyo leapt to his feet. “I was trying to be friendly!”

“It wasn’t friendly. She was uncomfortable.”

“Well EXCUSE ME, for making people uncomfortable with my--my good intentions!”

The floorboard outside the door creaked, and both of them froze. They could hear Shigure padding down the hall; he must have just been passing by. Or listening in… They both finally exhaled when they heard him shut the door to his office behind him.

“Four,” Yuki started.

“How many damn rules do we need?”

“Apparently, a lot of them.” Yuki returned Kyo’s scowl with a glare, still balling up the end of his shirt and twisting it into a wrinkled mess. “Four. We let her come to us.”

“Why would she come to us?”

“We’ve laid out the invitation, by… “being friendly.”” He made air quotes, and Kyo growled. “It is up to Tohru if she wants to talk to us.”

_ But I wanna talk to her,  _ was the unspoken desire hanging in the air between them.

“Five. No other Sohmas can know what we’re doing.”

“Shigure knows.”

“Shigure’s not going to tell anyone, for fear of Akito finding out.”

“You can’t know that for sure.”

“I know the dog’s a coward when it comes to that man.” And weren’t they all. He sighed. “Six--”

“Don’t you think that’s enough already?”

“We have to be careful with her,” Yuki said. “If she gets  _ too  _ interested in us, she could get close and discover the secret again. You know how clumsy she can be.” It was one of Tohru’s cute points. “Be polite, be kind, be amicable, but keep your distance. Don’t  _ harass  _ her--”

“You said that one already!”

“Just making sure you heard me.”

Silence hung between them for a long moment, not a sound permeating the room except for the deer scarer in the garden tapping every once in a while. Kyo spoke up first.

“So… what’s seven?”

“That was it.”

“Then say that!”

Yuki stood, trying to straighten out his wrinkled shirt. Kyo jumped up again too, hands balled into fists at his sides.

“We’re going to have to act normal,” Yuki said, pausing at the door. “If she senses disharmony between us, she’ll try to intervene. That’s just how she is.”

“Uh-huh..?”

“So we’re going to have to be friends.”

“Like hell we are.”

“Either we act friendly and make it believable for her, or we drop this whole thing right now. Your call.”

Kyo’s dark gaze could have killed, if Yuki were only looking his way. “...fine,” he said finally, lowering his head. “I’ll… I’ll do it.”

“Good stupid cat.”

“You just said--!” Yuki had already opened the door, and was walking away. “I hate you, you damn rat! Just so you know!” Kyo hollered after him.

 

“So that redhead isn’t bothering you anymore, is he?” Uo asked, as they prepared food for their home ec class. Or… Tohru prepared the food, while Uo and Hana talked. Their teacher had long since given up on scolding them for it.

“Nope!” Tohru said cheerfully. “Not that he was bothering me!” she was quick to mention. “He’s just… a little… friendly?”

“Annoying, you mean,” Uo laughed. “You’re too nice, Tohru.”

“He’s watching,” Hana said softly.

“Huh?”

“The boy with the strange waves… no, two of them.” The other two girls looked over at Yuki and Kyo, paired up for the class, who both suddenly busied themselves with chopping ingredients (poorly.)

“Wonder what they want,” Uo said. “I bet they have a crush on Tohru, both of em!”

“Ha!” a voice boomed from behind her. “Ha! Ha! Ha! You really think Prince Yuki would even give a second thought to  _ that  _ girl?” Minagawa Motoko held her hand up to her mouth, belting out an ojou-sama laugh. “Oh-ho-ho!”

“Pick a laugh and stick to it,” Uo advised her.

“Your head must be pretty big, for you to think something like that!” Minagawa said to Tohru, pointedly ignoring Uo.

“Um, I don’t actually think they like me, either of them… They’re just nice people,” Tohru said, smiling to combat Minagawa’s nasty sneer.

“Hmph! Well, you’d do well to stay away from the Prince, just so you know.  _ And  _ his cousin. The Kyo Sohma Fanclub has already sprouted up too!”

“That’s nice,” Tohru said, still smiling, though it was slightly strained at this point.

“Mind you, nobody’s creating a  _ Tohru Honda Fanclub!”  _ Minagawa laughed again, this time a  _ kufufufu  _ kind of giggle.

“Hana, sic her,” Uo said, and Hana surged forward, chasing Minagawa off. Uo turned, and pulled Tohru into a hug.

“Don’t listen to her. We’re your fanclub.”

“I don’t really need a fanclub,” Tohru said.

“Shh, shh. I’m your biggest fan.”

“I’m Tohru’s other biggest fan,” Hana said, gliding back over to pat Tohru’s head.

“Can you three girls get to work?” their teacher sighed, only to be presented with the dish Tohru had finished. “Ah… nevermind, then.”

 

“Your stupid rules kept us away from her all day,” Kyo complained, as they walked home together.

“She was with her friends. It’s not my fault that she didn’t approach us.”

“But why couldn’t we have approached her!”

“We don’t want to trigger any more memories. Recalling Shigure’s name was too much already.”

They both stopped on the path, looking back down the hill towards the school. The sun was starting to slip down the sky, inching towards the horizon with a promise of setting. “I wonder what she’s doing now,” Kyo murmured.

“Probably working,” Yuki replied softly.

 

Hana and Uo were nice enough to walk her to work, laughing and talking all the way. They even offered to hang out for a bit while she worked, but Tohru wouldn’t hear of it. She waved them off at the door, watching them head back down the road together, and sighed. Something felt off.

She couldn’t pinpoint what, of course. She had spent all day with her best friends, her only friends, having fun at school and at lunch, and then they’d walked her here, too. It had been a nice day. The sun was barely setting, and the sunset was so beautiful.

So why did she feel so blue?

“I just have to work harder,” Tohru murmured, turning around to head inside. “If I work, I won’t have time to think about it!”

She paused, eyes caught by a gleam of gold. Around the edge of the building, a child peeked out at her, then ducked back again. Gold hair, a blue hat, and warm brown eyes. A foreigner, maybe? Kinda weird that they would be here, alone, at sunset…

Actually, it was really weird! Whose lost child was this?!

Tohru glanced at the door to the building again, shook her head, and headed off after the kid. She stopped at the edge of the building, looking this way and that,  but there was no sign of them. Their parents must have come back already.

“I’m worrying about nothing,” she giggled, heading into the building to get to work.

 

Momiji panted, crouching with his back against the wall. The second she’d seen him, he had run. That was okay, right? It was okay as long as they didn’t talk, right? As long as she didn’t get a good look at his face?

Right?

He sighed, head dropping to his knees, and wrapped his arms around his legs. What was so wrong about it? Wanting to talk to her again, that is. He hadn’t said a word to anyone, since Tohru had been wiped away by Hatori, at Akito’s urging. It hurt too much to speak.

So was it so wrong, so want to say a few words to her? To meet her once more? If only he could wear a mask or something, so she wouldn’t see his face! 

Ah, wait. That was it.

 

“What are you doing,” Hatsuharu asked him later, as he lugged the box into the part of the estate they shared. Haru’s voice was flat, and his hair was messy--no, all of him was messy. He hadn’t showered in a while, by the smell of it. He was pretty down.

Momiji shook his head by way of answer, dragging the box backwards into his room, then reached out to shut the door softly. Haru watched the door for a minute longer, then turned away, heading back to his bed.

When the door opened again, it was not Momiji, but a round-headed, fluffy bunny mascot that poked its head out. It looked left, then right, then scampered out of Momiji’s room, hurrying for the door.

It was late. Too late for cheerful bunny mascots to be out, running on the streets. Momiji wasn’t afraid, though. He knew where he was going, and who would be there.

She was just getting off work when he arrived, and nearly bowled into her. Momiji put on the brakes, and bent over, breathing hard.

“Um… Bunny-san?”

Momiji put one finger up, indicating that he needed a moment.

“Are you alright?”

He straightened up, and put his hand out. Tohru stared at him for a long moment, and then shook the offered fluffy paw.

“It’s nice to meet you, Bunny-san!”

“What’s with the mascot,” one of the ladies Tohru worked with asked, as she passed by. “Kinda creepy.” 

Momiji visibly deflated.

“I-it’s okay, Bunny-san!” Tohru cried. “I know you’re not creepy! You’re a friendly bunny, right? A cute bunny! And I’m sure you’re very kind and…” She trailed off. “Are you crying, Bunny-san?”

He was trying not to, but the tears came nevertheless. Momiji hiccuped, shaking his head and backing away, hands waving frantically in front of him. This had been a bad, dumb mistake. Tohru was just too kind to be around.

“Bunny-san, what’s wrong?”

He turned, and hurried away as fast as he could in a bunny mascot suit with low visibility. Tohru didn’t chase him, but he ran, ducking around the first corner and throwing the head off at his soonest opportunity.

He was grabbed unexpectedly by two strong hands, one on either side of him. Yuki, on his right side, and Kyo, on his left.

“Hey,” Yuki said, smiling at him.

“That was pretty rash of you,” Kyo sighed. 

Momiji froze. His face slowly scrunched up again, and tears spilled out over his cheeks, dripping off his nose and chin and onto the fur of the bunny suit.

“B-bunny-san! Sohma-kun?”

The three boys nearly jumped out of their skins, and turned shakily to look back. Tohru stood at the corner of the building, one hand clutched to her chest, the other reaching towards the wall. She took a step forward, towards the three of them.

“Is… is that person okay, Sohma-kun?”

“Fine,” Yuki called, forcing one of his signature fake smiles. “Just a little emotional.”

“Um,” Tohru said, and started slowly towards them.The three Sohmas inched back, maintaining the space between them.

“Is there a reason I shouldn’t come closer?” Tohru asked, sounding slightly hurt. Kyo looked away. Momiji let out a strangled wail, rubbing his eyes on the bunny paws.

“Is that another of your relatives?” Tohru asked, stopping a few meters away. Yuki bit his lip and nodded. “Did… did  _ I _ make them cry?”

“It wasn’t you,” Yuki assured her. “You don’t need to worry about it.”

“Can’t do this,” Kyo muttered, turning away. Momiji sniffled loudly, face in his pink fabric hands.

“Whatever’s going on… if you ever need to talk to someone, I… I’m being too forward, aren’t I?” Tohru laughed, smiling in a way that didn’t quite reach her whole face. “I’m sorry. If it’s a family matter, I’ll leave you alone.”

She backed away, waving her hands slightly as she disappeared back around the corner. They could hear her muttering “sorry, I’m so sorry” as she went out of sight.

 

“Dummy,” Kyo scolded Momiji, smacking him on the head. “Don’t go near her again.”

He had volunteered to take Momiji home, as Yuki refused to go. It wasn’t too far, but he wouldn’t be welcome inside at all--so the most he could do was drop the rabbit off at the gate and walk home.

Momiji turned to face Kyo, eyes still wide and bloodshot, and gave him a look that said “but  _ you  _ approached her too.”

“It’s… it’s complex, okay? We… augh! Look, our lives are too complex to involve that girl in. We should all just leave her alone.” He paused, staring down at the space between his shoes, and Momiji’s fur-clad feet. “It’s selfish, and I know it. It’s so selfish, but I just… I have to see her, one more time, you know? Every time we part again, it’s like “just one more time.” I can’t just let it be.”

When he looked up, Momiji was weeping again. “Stop that! You damn--I liked you better when you were too cheerful!” Kyo shook his head and sighed. “Look, I can’t go in, so just… go chill with Haru, or something.”

Momiji shook his head.

“What, you can’t hang out with him? What’s going on?”

Momiji shrugged, looking down.

“Jeez, you’re all useless without her too, huh. I guess that girl really did affect the Sohmas…”

The gate slid open, and the woman leaving the estate jolted at the sight of them--Momiji, in a bedraggled and headless bunny  suit, and Kyo Sohma. Which one was more surprising for her to see was uncertain.

“Uh,” Kyo said, shoving Momiji towards her. “Catch.” The blond staggered and righted himself before he could hit the woman and transform, and shuffled past her into the compound. Kyo took off running, back towards home.

“...What were you doing with  _ him? _ ” The woman asked, watching Kyo disappear into the night. But Momiji had no answers for her.


End file.
